E 380 





Book_-JIl-3_il. 



THE 



/ 



STRIKIJVG S131IL1TI Di: 



r.Kiur.KM 






THE KEIGN OF TERROR, 



OF THE ELDER ADAMS, 



AND 



THE REIGjY of C0RRUPTI0^\ 



OF THE YOUNGER ADAMS. 



AN ADDRESS ADOPTED BY THE AI.BANY REPUBLICAN COUNTY 

CONVENTION: 



OGETHER WITH RESOLUTIONS EXPRESSING THEIR SENTIMENTS ON THE PRE- 
SIDENTIAL QUESTION, AND NOMINATING THE HON. JOHN TAYLER FOR 
PRESIDENTIAL ELECTOR. 



N € w ) cr'k^X^^t a - 



Piinted for the Albany Argtis, 
BY p. m'glashan. 

18^8. 



\ 



/ 



E 3 9o 



RESOLUTIONS OF THE ALBANY TOl NTV 
REPUBLICAN COIWEJVTION. 



The Committee appointed for that purpose, roporled (he lullnw jntr llp^f^Iulions jiikJ 
A(ld»oss, which were unanimously approved of : 



Resolved, Th:it it is the privilege and the gieat 
liity of repiiblioii citizens, to watch tlie move- 
nents and si-iiititir/.o thecoiiduit of tlioir lulers, and 
to detect tlie <lcsign- and anetit tlie cncio.ichinenis 
of power; and that in the exeicise of this i[ni)Ciaiive 
«lHty, the repiihhciins of this convention ask a can- 
did people to reflect upon the iiiisrule of those 
Mhum, not thtir will, but siuislei- aiiangements, 
have invested with the funclioiis of autluMity. 

Resolved, Thai we oppose the le-election of Jolin 
Quincy Adams — 

Because we believe him to be now, as in all his 
early ho-tilily to Jefferson and the deinociacy, im- 
bued with the principles and wedded to tlicd.stinc- 
tions of the aii^-tocracy — 

Because lie caine to the democratic party, with 
tales of treason against his /oruier political associ- 
ates, but with uiichanged principles and with per- 
sonal vie\\s — 

Because, his ends beinsjscitish, he was Hil!;ni; to 
prey upon any party that chanced to be predomi- 
nant — 

Because, when his desire of office had been grati- 
fied to a most liberal extent, when he vv-is in the 
act of receiving the enormous reward of 62, fill 
dolhirs for two years' personal services, when he 
was literally putting into his pocets, with cormo- 
rant avidity, the money of a people, pressed down 
by the weight of tlieir public calamities and the re- 
quirements of iiu extended and suffering frontier, 
when tiie demands ujion the treasury threw ujjon 
the people great and severe but un.ivoidabie bui- 
dens, when patriot hands were lifted up in the com- 
mon defence and patriot hearts placed their (bi tunes 
and their lives between the invader and the com- 
mon soil, he complrtineil that our government was 
" feeble and penurious" because still huger "con- 
tingencies" were not lavihtd upon him — 

Because, in tlut eventful period, when his 
pitiiot competitor devoted his whnle energies 
to his country, and, instead of accusing his gov- 
ernment of f^'cbleness and penury and holding 
out the disgraceful language of feai and submissioii, 
raising the iianner of his country, and inviting toils 
defence, by the most elevated examples of constan- 
cy, devotion and courage, the brave volunteers and 
iiiilitia of the west, freely pledging ho juivate for- 
tune for a people wliom he loved, and for In arths 
th.it were assailed, showing himself at every 
point of danger, exciting all to the noble dischaige 



spired and encouraging language, " Rcinimbd 
flitil )iur irntch-iioiil is viilwi/ or iliiilh: our 
C'Jiinliij must and shall be difnulid: tit trill eiijai/ 
our libaty or ptrish in the last ditch," — John 
Quincy Adams predicted our o»eilhr<i\v, Mithout 
raising a linger to avert it, and declared thai it could 
not I.e expected that "we should resist the mass 
of force which the gigantic power of Britain had 
col ccted to ciusli us at a blow 1" — 

Mecause li.- has hetrayeil llie republicans, into 
whose • amp he came as a desertir, and h,is lepdd 
their kindness and liberality by attempts to subvert 
their party and to < flace its landmarks — 

Because he has turned bai k and rouj;ht tiie aid 
of those men and of that party wlioin lie accused oi 
treasonable designs, thus establi-hing either the in- 
sincerity of his declaiations or his willingness to co- 
operate vviih tidilois to his country — 

Because he came into power under pledges to 
snch leaders of that party as could be drawn into 
the coiii|)act — 

Because his associations since liis accession have 
been of that complexion — aHil because, bred jiiiongst 
the aristocracy and educated in foreign courts, his 
habits and principles are not congenial with tl:e 
spiiitofour institutions and Ihe notions of a demo- 
cratic people. 

Resolvtd, That W'e cannot yield our support to 
the presi-nt administr.ition of the general govern- 
ment — because it was the result of a corrupt ar- 
rangement, by which extremes weie made to meet 
and personal designs were advanced bv alliances 
odious m themselves, demoralizing in their tenden- 
<'y, and .-ubversive of the rights of the peo|>U' — and 
becuisc ill its [iroiligd expendiuiies its niiiltiplica- 
tion of agents, its wasic of the public tre.isure, its 
misapplic.ilion of the contii.geni fmuis, iis nume- 
rous outfits, its illegal and piol'use iowai<l of favor- 
ites, its encroachments upon the rights of the sla es, 
its disregard of the rights and char.itter ol the na- 
tion, its ci-nsnire of emba-sadors and captains who 
have lesisted foreign aggression, its unni.iidy sub- 
mission to injurious inllictions upon our commeice 
anil upon the jiersons of American seamen, its loss 
of a vahiable colonial trade, its neglect of our rela- 
tioos witli foreign courts, i;s travelling electioneer- 
ing, its ebony and topaz illustrations, its war, pes 
tilcnce .ml famine invocations, and iis insti 
tioii of the calumnious attacks upon patriot citi' 
— it has forleited the confidence, and oiiffli' 



f their duty, animating tbem by his presence and | ceive tiie opposition, of a people, jealous 
cheving tbem by his sacrifices, {>assiiig days of (a- rights careliil of their honour, tenacious o 

putation ot their defenders, and regaidfi' 

national interests and welfare. 

Jiesiilr(d, Tlr}t w e appro\'e of the nc 

A N D RE W .1 A CKSON , of Tennessee. 

lican candi late for president; and th;' 



iigue and sleepless nights in preparing fur the g.d- 
i lilt resistani e which the invader afierw.nds met 
■■■\ ilh at his hands and the hands of his undaunted 
compatriots, and appearing in that hour of peril in 
the midst of the conflict, holding to all the in- 



Iiim, in the langu.tge of the vencrateu Jefferson, a 
citizen " wlioha-^ tilled the measure of his country's 
glory;" wlio " iias iiinre of the Koin.m in him than 
any iDan now hviiig;" and whom Providence seems 
to have fitted, in a peculiar matintr, by the 
magnitude of his sTvices, his sound piinciplee, his 
jirarticdl lepublir-jnism, and his unostentatious life, 
to st?y tlK- march of corrupiioii and prodigality, and 
to biin!£ back- tlie government to the purily and 
simpliriiy of the democratic days of the republic. 

Resolved, That our confidence in the accom- 
plishment of thtse threat and salutary ends certain- 
ly is not diminished, by the circumstance that he 
-will .ome to his high office direcllt^from the peo- 
2>le, unaiiled by tiic " line of safe precedents," by 
cabinet intrigues, or the abuse of the contingent 
funds. 

Rusoloed, That we approve of the nomination of 
JOH\ C CALHOUN, for the office of vice presi- 
dent, as a citizep in w horn superior talent and ex- 
peiience eminently qualify for that station, and 
Avhose efficient services in the cause of his country 
constitute strong claims upon the support of the 
people. 

Risolvcd, That in our estimation, calumny and 
detr iction are not the weapons of a good cause, or 
the means of attaining right ends; and that we can 
rcgaid the tmexampled abuse of the Firmer of Ten- 
nessee, the foul charges brought ajainst him by men 
in high places, the invasion of his domestic rela- 
tions, and the assaults upon the reputation of the 
■wife of his bosom, as the acts of men, grown des- 
pt'.ate under the censures of the people, and in 
view of the dep.uture of power, corruptly acquired 
and madly exercised. 

Bcsolucd, That the recent nomination, hy a fede- 
ral coiiventii't) favorable to the general administra- 
tion, of a liigh judicial otlicer of that administration 



as a candidate for governor of this state, is »veH 
calculated, unless resisted by the people, to fill the 
minds of all who love theircountry, with just alarm 
for the perpetuity of our institutions. If the gene- 
ral government can send its cabinet officers into the 
several states, to presile over them, and exercise in 
them the executive, judicial or legislative authori- 
ty— if the states must look to the national adminis- 
tration for their local officers — they have become 
little else than colonial dependencies of their ru- 
lers at Washington ; their boasted sovereignty 
is no more than a name; and we may look, at no 
distant day, for the subversion of the state govern- 
ments, and for the erection on their ruins, of that 
splendid piece of royal mimickry, so ardently desi- 
red by the elder Adams,— a consolidated government 
and a hereditary chief masistrale. 

Resolved, That in the judsmfnt of this conven- 
tion, a nomination of a high judicial functionary ot 
the national government, to a local office under' the 
state government, is an infraction of the spirit of 
our const tj'ion, which carefully excludes our own 
judicial officers from other civil appointments; and 
that the recent attempt to encroach upon our state 
rights and constitutional enactments — to render the 
highest judicial tribunal of the country subservi- 
ent to the ends of party — to send, at the heck of the 
Cabinet, the ministers of the national court:^ mto 
the arena of our local politics — to weaken the con- 
fidence of the people of the union in the decisions 
of lite only umpire between the states, which, un- 
polluted and unimpaired, constitutes one of the 
strongest links in the chain of our union, and which 
more than any other should be preserved free from 
party collision and bias — is anti-republican and un- 
constitutional, and will be resi.-»'ed at the ballot- 
boxes by a people, proud of tlieir ijative state, and 
watchful of every design upon its hberties. 



ADDRESS 



Unanimously adopted by the Albany Ropublican Convention, held at Bethlehem oe 
the 31st July, 1828, at which Resnltitions werf also adopted, concurring in the 
nomination of ANDREW JACKSON and JOHN C. CALHOUN, and otTeriug 
John Tayler as the Republican Candidate for Presidential Elector for this di^>- 
trict. 

To the Republicans of the County of Albany : 



.\r,v-iNC with flic nomination ofa candidate for an elec- 
tor of this district, we have thought itpicper to sub- 
mit to you some remarks on tlu; presidential election- 
The contest iii its commencement aiipeared to indi- 
f ate, and in its progress has, in fact, assumed, a strik- 
ing similarity to that of ISOO. There can be, we think, 
but little doabt in the minds of those who Iiave atten- 
tively observed the passing events, that the men who 
)iow wield the destiny of this great republic, entertain 
sentiments as hostile to the vightsof the people, as those 
manifested by our rulers in 1798. The administration 
ol the Son has improved upon the wrong principles of 
'h' Father. 
■* hn Adams' administration was brought in by the 
e#jf the people; it soon forfeited their confidence 
irsuing measures incompatible with popular rights 
ipted to sustain itself by the exercise of pow- 
■legated by the constitution, and thereby just- 



ly acquired for itself the appellatirn of'THEREIGX 
Of terror." The administration of John Q. Ad- 
ams was brought in, as multiplying proofs have abun- 
dantly established, bv intrigue and bargain, in viola- 
tion of the public will— it is seeking to perpetuate it- 
self in defiance of this will, not only by the assumption 
of miconstitmional powers, but by an unauthorised and 
profligate expenditure of the public treasure, and it has 
thereby acquired for itself the justly merited designa- 
tion of" THE REIGN OF CORRUPTION." 

Inasmuch as public liberty has oftener been swept 
away by corruption, than it has been cloAen down by 
the violence of usurped power, the reign of the young- 
er Adams is more dangerous to our free institutions 
than was that of his father, and the efforts of the peo- 
ple to piU an end to it should emulate the deeds oi the 
patriots of 'OS. To prove to the satisfaction of those 
who aie not blinded by prejudice to the most obvious 



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6 



Oi.4inf Jioiii;, tliaf (he |)ii'spii( ccmtist is iJentical in 
clKiracter to that v.liicli tciminatc.J tlio iii^ii .it tin- d- 
dtr Adams, and that it is llic stiii^'Jc vi the reoplc a- 
•^aiiist the Aiislocracy, wc will luiiliy reler y'>u to the 
known principles of "the men who have arrayed them- 
selves in each contest en the side .f power, and the 
measures tliev adopted for its perpitnaliuii. 

'I'he defamatory assaults upon thu rtpublican candi- 
,l;itcs— upon JefVe'rMin in 1800, and upon Jackson now, — 
have characters ol strong rt semblai.c.-. '1 hey are found 
on strict examination to he devoid of truth and lull ol 
malignity. In the case of Jefferson, the samtnury of 
private life -was rudely violated, and di>.c;ustinf; iinrno- 
raUty imputed to a ruan of the most blameless domestic 
conduct. Gen. Jackson has shared a late every way 
simihr. Jefferson was represented lo he a visionary 
philosopher, destitute of that practical good scnj>e 
which ii iiidispensal'ly necessary for a chief ma-is- 
tiafr. Jacks-'U is >aid"lo he so illiterate as to make it 
i)rcsumptiou in the people to urge his chums to that 
high station, which in the opinion of 'he aristocrats ot 
the present day. is an hon(-r alone " apinopnate and 
peculiar to polished iiiUUixt." Jclfcrs(.n was reviled 
.IS the friend and disciple of the bloody re-icides of 
France, and his elevation, as it \\as predicted, l)odtd 
for this country all the violence, the factions and cru- 
elties of the French revointion. (icneral Jackson is 
shamefully reviled as a traitor who lent his counte- 
nance to a plot for the dismemhenuent of the Union. 
^Ir. Jefferson was stigmatised as an infidel, under 
whose administration the moral elements of society 
would be dissolved, re.ligion acridcd, our bibles burn- 
ed, and nnr temples of worship demolished. General 
Jackson is characterised as a '• mi!itu7-y chitjtain," 
whose administration will inflict ui)oii our country the 
direst calamities— calamities instead of which Mr. 
Clay has irreverently implored the God of mercy to 
substitute wvk, pestilence and famine. 

Every prediction of the enemies of JNIr. Jefferson was 
falsified. His administration was as fortunate and hap- 
j\v as any that this country was ever blessed with- It 
sanctioned few or no deviations in its measures from 
the theoretic principles of our government, and it is 
now pointed to as a model for imitation. The slanders 
against gen. Jackson are not fewer in number, nor less 
false and malignant in character, than those with which 
JNIr. JeffersonVas assailed; and we trust his adminis- 
tration will also falsify the forebodings of mischief- 
will he happy for the people, and long looked back to, 
like that ofJefffcison, as a proper model (or imitation- 

'I he aspersions upon the character of general Jack- 
son have been so many and so diversified, that the li- 
mits of an address do not allow of a particular notice 
of them. We believe, however, that there is no charge 
without its answer; refutation has closely followed the 
lootsteps of the acciirsing spirit of falsehood and de- 
molished all its nefarious works- 

Those who still tliink general Jackson a bad man, 
must have wilfully tuined'away from a flood ol li£,ht 
V. bieh his ample vindication has sent abroad. W'e 
shall not here enlarge upon what has been said in dero- 
gation of the republican candidate, but shall only re- 
commend to those who are willi.ng to be informed and 
still doubt of his qualifications, to peruse the able .ind 
ample refutations, by which every accusation against 
him has been met, and to reflect upon the (ollowmgde- 
iiberate opinions of yi-:#(rso)(, Madison and Monroe— 
great patriots and pn re republicans— of ./o/ui ^. Adams 
and Henry Clmj—h'Mev opponents, for whom or by 
whom all the engines of slander have been put m mo- 
tion against him. 

" General Jackson is a clear-headed, strong-minded 
man. and has more of the Roman in him than any man 
nmolwing" Thomas Jeffkkso.v. 

" The recollection of the public relations in which I 
stood to general Jackson, while President, ana the 
propfn ^iven to him of the high estimation in ivhidi he 
vas held by me, Si.c" 

" [n Andrew Jacksox, commander-in-chief of the 
division of the south, the president found a man fit for 
apy emergen' V— a ^tatf.'mav, cool and di^p'-ssjonr.te, 



—a soi.nii;ii, teriihlo in batth- and mihl in victor*,— a 
PATiuoT, whose, bo.ioinswelleil witli .he love of \iis 
conntry:— in (ino a man, ' whose like we shall ucacu: 
loiikupon agaiii.'" Jamf.s IMo.nkoe._ 

" Who (Jat-kson) has shed ro much lustre on his 
country', who.se renown conslilutes so great a portion 
of its moral properly, I never had, ynri'/rcdii hare, any 
Other feelings th.-in those of tUe nioat i>rofouiid rcspict, 
and of the utmost kinuneas." Hevhv Ci.av. 

"\Vhose (General Jackson's) services to the nation 
entitle Uiiiiloih>'ir highest rcitvird, .ii-.d whose whole ca- 
riser has hern signalized \'y ihii jnirext iiitrntious .\nd 
the most rhrated jnirposcs." John Q. Aua.ms. 

We cannot but believe that such testimony as tlii* 
of his eminent services and exalted aorth, coming, as 
it does, from sages the be st ipsalified to judge, and from 
oppomiits the most willing to depreciate, will be with 
the pi 01. If, as it ought fo'be, a shield of protection a- 
g-rfinst the envenomed sh.ifts of slander. 

We helieve that there Isno man at this day. who will 
not acknowledge, it he is not deluded, or does not wi^h 
to delude others, that there is an essential difference 
in principle, between those who seek the eleetion <'f 
general Jackson, and those who arc dev.ited to the Co- 
alition. Tin: contest between them is not merely fi r 
power— it has higher and worthier obj«cts— it is h r 
principles AVe arc solemnly impressed with the c<)i;- 
victioii that John Q. Ad:,ms has covertly introduced in- 
to his administration the objectionable principles (1 
that of his father; and has thereby secured the appro- 
bation and the active support of all those who are iii- 
clined to aristocracj'. An allusion to the distinctive 
measures of the two admiiiistraticus, will substantiate 
this assertion. 

The assumption of power by construction has been 
as great and alarming by the Son as it was by the Fa- 
thir. 'J he right to make this assumption has been more 
boldly avowed, and i\w power when i surpcd has been 
more objectionably exercised, by the rulers of Iho pre- 
sent day, than by those of '98- 

The rights of the state governments were never more 
ill danger than at this tim'^c, of being swallowed u]) by 
cimnorant construction, and their consequence sunk 
in the vortex of c(msolidation. The assertion of '• the 
comdit'dtional competence of the cjcecutivk'' to send am- 
bassadors, w'thout authority from the national legi-la- 
tiire and without the advice of the senate, to a con- 
gress of independent nations, a sort of holy alliance, 
and the avowal by the president of a rule of otUcial con- 
duct higher than the constitution, fnmi which, accord- 
ing to the true theory of republican government, all the 
power of the chief magistrate is derived, are principles 
more alarming than any that were ever advanced by 
the elder Adams- 

The ridiculous devico of the blndi cockade, is rivalled 
in ridiculousness by the grave epistle of yo/i7i fj). Ad- 
ams upon etiquette', and his formal regulations lor the 
costumes of ambassadors. 

Aspirants to illegal power, though they aim at the 
same object, seldfjui tread precisely in the footsteps of 
their unsuccessful predecessors- Casar did not imi- 
tate Catcii.ic in his attempt upon the liberties ol the 
Roman people; bat the younger Adams, as if he inten- 
ded there should be no excuse for mistaking the cl'.a- 
lacter of his administration, has pursued, in servile im- 
itation of \v.>fdhcr, the same objects, and by iicaiiy 
the same mtans. 

The press in 179S was the object of dread and attack. 
The free expression ol public sentiment through tin- 
medium of republican journals was ntfempted to be 
cf)ntrouled or ovei.twed by the sedition law. The 
present ailministr.iii'-n have" endeavoured to produce a 
similar result witl'outthe aid of such a law, by the use 
and abuse of patronage : —to intimidate by tin- menace of 
withdrawing it— to j.urehase by its bestowment. la 
pursuance of this policy, we have seen the leading re- 
publican journals in Ivcntuckj-, New-Hampshire and 
Slaine, and others in various other parts of the Unit" ' 
States, — allof them assiduous in the dissL-minati' 
republican dcctfincs asinculc;acd by Jefferson,— 



jxidoi oSiioi-.ii iniliotiaprc, fur the merewaiitoi personal 
isuPserviency to the secretary of state- 
In the National Intelligencer we have seen the ope- 
ration of cause and cifect — an immense patronage re- 
tained, and a sudden change of opinion, from ho.<tility 
/ to abject devotion to those who had the power to take 
awa}' that patronage- 

Jolin H. Plcasuiits, the editor of a <r,nspjcuous jour- 
•vii in Virgiiiia, the extravagant eulogist of the admin- 
istration, and the furious reviler of tlen. Jackson, has 
received gl940 as the bearer of despatches to Rio Ja- 
neiro in Buenos Ayres, which he never delivered, but 
committed them to the captain of a merchant siup, and 
recreated himself at the public expense in a tour in 
England. 

The brother of the conductor of the leading adminis- 
tration paper in Pennsylvania, enjoys a lucrative ap- 
pointroent as one of our diplomatic agents. 

Jonathan Elliott, a printer of a newspaper in Wash- 
ington, devoted to the administration, irom whose 
press has issued the scandalous attacks upon Gen. 
Jackson, that have been distributed in great profusion 
through the union, under the frank of/ionoura^/emcm- 
bers of congress, received ^'KKX), misapplied from the 
contingent fund '' for foreign iiitercoiirse," for one hun- 
dred copies of a book entitled'- di|)lomatic cotle,"— an 
extravagant allowance to a convewient too.' for a use- 
less article- 

We are all apprised of the violence and abuse of t!:e 
New-York American— the organ of the admimstrution 
in this state, managed by the aristocratic family of 
Kings. Wc speak' not oY the mamj thousaud dollars 
lavished on this family, so dearly cherished by the el- 
der And younger Adams: but wc cannot view without 
an expression of ourastoniahment the conduct of one 
of this family (.John A. King,) a conspicuous manager 
in the I oalifion conventions of this state, in " raising 
the standard of the administration," while his pockets 
are filled with the plunder of th- treasury— we say the 
plunder of the treasury, because a committee of con- 
gress have declared that the payment to him of nearly 
the whole of ;k,1,500 by the sanction < f the Presidcn't 
and Mr. Clay, was '"« manifest breach cf hav" — and 
they have recommended that the attorney general be 
directed to institute legal proceedings for its recovery. 
This distribution of patronage, with the view <if ac- 
quiring the same controul over the press under the ad- 
ministration of the son, that was given to tlmfat'ier by 
the sedition law, it shc.nlu be recollected, is no part of 
the legitimate patronage arising from the business of 
printing. 

The abuses of that which is legitimate have been so 
<?normoiis under the Coalition, as to excite the justest 
alarm. The moneys paid f«rHf'i'-*prtj)er.s, not including 
advertising or other printing in the departments of 
state, war, navy and treasury ,"during the three years of 
this administration, amount to the extravagant sura of 
S6,lMy C3; and the printing for these departments and 
the general post office, to more than ^TOjOOO- 

We cannot express our apprehensions upon this sub- 
ject more pertinently, than by using the language of the 
committee of congress, who exposed these thriftless 
c.xpeiuiitures bv the CoaUtion. "liythe employment 
"of the expenditures of the contingent funds of the de 
" partments, a government press to ad intents and pur- 
" poses is established, as much as if there were an an- 
"nuai item in the appropriation bill for the purpose of 
"purchasing the joint and harmonious actum of one 
'■hundred presses, in the uncompromising vindication 
" of those in power, and in the unsparing abuse of those 
" who are -ot. The danger which assails the freedom 
" of the press through the insinuation of this species of 
"influence, is far more serious than any s^ar diambet^ 
"code of pains and [icnalties; for in the latter case, the 
" pride of man, which revolts at oiipression, ensures in 
"the end a tri\unphant resistance; but in the former^ 
"the very weakness of his nature invites a subjuga- 
"tionof his independence" 

If the perniciinis influence exercised bj- the admin- 
istration ihroiigh the distribution of official patronage, 
•\^-a5 confined to a cnntvol over the press, our just uau.^e 



for the most serious apprehensions would be far less 
than it now is. 

Drawing his rules of human conduct from reflections 
upon his own moral principles, or from observations 
upon the venal crowd that surrounds him, Mr. Clay 
has remarked, that " Pcrluqos all pover is resolvabie. 
^' into that of the vvRS'E, TOJi WITH it j/on may com- 
" mandcdmost evein/ thing else." Cherishing the same 
false notion of the general profligacy of the people, he 
said to Gen. Floj^d, " Give us patronage, and we will 
make ourselves popular.^' Patronage has been given 
to the Coalition — or rather, they have obtained it by 
bargain and intrigue- They have had the power of thV, 
purse, and it has not remained in their hands an unem- 
ploj-ed treasure. The multiplication of diplomatic a- 
gents and the needless employment of messengers — a 
practice began under the elder Adams, and ciscontinu- 
ed and condemned by Jefferson — has been revived by 
ihe, younger Adams, sxiA increased beyond the censur- 
ed example of his father- A few months services, in 
some instances, ha-^ e been rewarded with splendid out- 
fits and years of salarj-- New presses have been called 
into existence in everj' part of the union, to check pub- 
lic sentiment, and write'downthe candidates ofthe peo- 
ple. Hireling libellers, quartered upon the contingent 
funds, have fabricated unnumbered slanders, and vaga- 
bond messengers have carried them into every tovm and 
hamlet" in the United States; and yet the administra- 
tion /tauf «o< 7n«fZe themselves popular. Although the 
Jupiter of the Coalition has sent down his shower of 
gold, he has not overcome the virtue of the people. — 
They have seen, and felt, and abhorred, this -'Reign of 
Corruption ;" they are nov; calling, in the indignant 
voice of an injured and insulted nation, upon their faith- 
less public servants to render their account oiicasted 
millions. 

When the people see, as we think the}' must do, a 
deliberate attempt on the part of the present adminis- 
tration to undermine their rights by secret corruption, 
and to purchase the contiimance of power against the 
cfli.rts ofthe people, by the proflioate expenditure of 
the people's monej'', they will not laii, wc trust, to put 
forth as strong an arm for their protection as did the 
patriots of ISOO. by whom the country was rescued 
from " the Reig^i of Terror.''' 

The similarity between the administratiin of the^rsf 
and second Adams, so evident in regard to the freedom 
of opinion and the independence of the press, is not 
less observable in relation to those principles that gave 
rise to the old federcd alien laii\ It was natural that 
those who had felt tyranny in their native land, and 
fled here for protection from it, should be zealous to 
prevent its establishment in the country of their adop- 
tion. Our naturalized citizens of course became early 
objects of suspicion and hostility to the partizans of 
the Coalition. Immediately alter the last election, 
they were the subject of illiberal remarks and vulgar 
abuse in the administration prints.* 

To leave no doubt that the administration participa- 
ted in those hostile feelings towards emigrants settled 
in our country, the secretary of the navy has recom- 
mended "that foreign seamen, although naturalized, 
be as rapidly excluded from our navy as possible," and 
has given orders that none should be recruited " ex- 
cept as a matter of necessity " " Itwoidd befortxmnte 
m every rcpect,'' he exclaims, "if not one manfoated 
upon an American bottom, either mercantile or milita-nj, 
irho did not claim Amci^ican soil as his birth place." 
The same principle and the same causes which have 
induced this cabinet minister ofthe administration to 
exclude from public ships ournaturalized citizens, and 
to regard it as a consummation devotUly to bo wished, 
that nofmeigner should float upon an American bottom, 

* This disposition lias been manifested in many ways. It 
was said by Hie friends of John Q. Adams, t)i:it (he electioni 
in llie cities of Albany and New-York, (wliicli rrsiiUed so un. 
propitiously for bis cause) "■ ivercconsiuumntcd by liomthred 
villians and foreign renesadoes.'' And llie partizans ol Mr. 
Adams df^scrilied, in a public seiitiiiipnt, llie '-Jaclison parly" 
as being composed of " (Usapjiointtil desjicradoes cf ^Imericd-^ 
and rwiau-atj filthy Irhhineii.^'—[Eiiilor. 



U'ould exclude thcs» citizens IVom ouDniiifnry service, 
from our workshops, tVoin our countiiti; Iioi:>cs, from 
our farms, from our coart.-, and even from tlie pulpit. 
TJiis woiiid be earryiiij;; hoslilily and perseculiou of 
those who had fled to tlus couiitrv, 'Mhe boasted asy- 
lum from oj)pres>ion,''' and made it their home, far be- 
yond the rigor of the old alien law- 
Why arc foreigners, and particularly those who have 
acnuired full rights of citizcn^l»ip undcrour laws, deem- 
ed by the Coalition unworthy to limit upon an Amcri- 
Ciii bottom ? Are they, as the N. Y. American, a leatl- 
ing administration journal, characterizes them, " loose, 
floatin;;, mialtached adventurers, who lake ;my service 
and fight for any tlajr that pays them highest"! \Vc 
believe this ungeneii'Us conduct of our government, 
and these disgraceful reproaches from the friends of 
the Coalition, are wholly uimierited I'.ave those for- 
eigners who have enlisted in our army or navy, ever 
disgraced our flag by cowardice! lias any victory 
ever crowned our arms, wliith has not been |)urchased 
by the commingled blood of oumaturidized and nalnc 
citizens'? 

Having cst.iblished, as we think, in a satisfactory 
manner, that the principles of the present adminisini- 
tion of the general government, and the conduct nf its 
partizaus, are in many instances identical, a'Jii in all 
others very sirailar,to the federal administration (f 
1798, it is reasonable to expect that those who were 
the supporters of the first Adams, anu whose princi- 
ciples have suffered no change, should now be the sup- 
porters of the sfconr/ Adtmx; and that those who op- 
posed the" Reig}i o/ Ttrror/'and whose principles have 
also undergone no change, should be now the oj)posers 
of the " Reign of Corruption." Facts, we believe, cor- 
respond with this reasonalile expectation- There have 
been, liowever, both backsliders from, and proselytes 
to, the republican cause. Those who have left the re- 
publican party and united their political destinies with 
the old federal party, did not carry with thera republi- 
can principles, and have not therefore obliterated in 
the smallest degree, the distinction between these two 
jiarties- All that were federalists have not remained so- 
The reasonableness and the excellence of the political 
doctrines of the school of Jfffirson, made many con- 
verts, before they were reduced to practice under the 
administration of this republican patriarch and his two 
immediate successors. During these administrations, 
converts were still more n\mierniis,but these conversions 
did not in the least change or confound the distinctive 
diaracter of the old p.irties. There are a few cases, 
and some of them of no ordinary importance, where 
the professed converts to the republican cause did not 
renounce, but temporarily disguised, their old faith. 
The cause that was espoused by them was betrayed, 
and that which was abandoned h.as been advanced- 
This hypocrisy has been tl.e occasion of some confu- 
sion, and made it necessaiy to look beyond mere names 
and professions, and have regard to'the principles of 
certain politicians, in order to ascertain the party to 
which they belong. Those who approved the meas- 
ures of the elder Aduim were federalists, and were 
proud of tliatapjiellation, and 'hose who approve simi- 
lar measures under the younger Adams are certainly 
not the less federalists because they wish to assume 
the honored name, while they war against the princi- 
ples, of republicans. 

An immense body of facts might be .adduced to show 
the identity of the views and principles of the support- 
ej-g oiJohn Adams and the supporters oihis son. In- 
deed in many thousand instances, they are the same 
unchanged and unchangeable individuals. Every me.m- 

EER OF THE ILvRTFORD CONVENTION WAS \ SVPPOUT- 
ER OF THE ADMINISTRATIO.V OF Joil.V AD.\>iS, AND 
EVERY MEMBER OF THAT BODY NOW ALIVE IS A DE- 
VOTED PARTISAN OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF HIS BON 

John QuiNcv Adams. It is also a fact, we believe, 
which is equally remarkable and equally indicative of 
the anti-republican character of the present adminis- 
tration, that it lias for its supporters eveuy member 

OF OUR ST.\TE CONVENTION, WHO VOTED FOR THE 
FREEHOLD Hl'-VLIFICATION OF SENATORIAL VOTEHS — 



a pniposilion so monstrously aristocratic, that its adup- 
tion would have )iarlially disfranchised nearly nr,>. 
iii.'NDiiEi) TiioiKANK lUEKMLN in this stutc. What 
claims to a republican character can that admin- 
istialion have whose iiicaMires have c> mmandcd 
the ;(ppi()liati(in and secured the fUjipoit of the 
whole body o| llarllord Conventionisth ! \Vhat iireten- 
tioiis can it lune to be the guardian of the free piinci- 
ples of our constilutiun, while it [.ursucs a policy en- 
tirely congenial «ith ihe sentiiiieiils of those proud ar- 
i.xlocrats, who l.oldly demand u monopoly of legislation 
because they have btrii blessed with more wcaJth than 
falls to the couimon lot of men ! 

Nothing jterhaps could Dmre clearly illustrate to the 
citizens oi this county the distinctive orineiplts of the 
two parties, than the candidates they have respective- 
ly imininatcd for their elector — the late Lieut. Gov. 
John 'JAYI.KH and the honourable AKRAUAM 
V.\N VPXJHTKX. 

They arc vencraljle men, of great purity of character, 
and most eminent moral worth. The electors o( this 
county can have no other ground of choice between 
them, than what arises from the diflerence in their po- 
litical principles. This dillerence is too well known 
to be denied and too broad to be confounded. 

Mr. Van Vechteu was a federalist of the old school, 
and he has remained so. unchanged in name and faith, to 
the present day. While many of his associates, in the 
days of the adverse fortune of their i)arty, sought to 
disguise their true political character by the assumj)- 
tioii of popular names, he has despised these mean arti- 
fices, gloried in the appellation oi a federalist, and fear« 
lessly maintained his ancient principles. Mr. Van 
Vcchten was a chamiiion of the admilli^t^^tion of old 
John Adams, and in siii)port of it, he arrayed hinisell 
against governor George Clinton, general Gates, John 
'I'ayler, Henry Rutgers, general James Clinton, general 
Floyd, and many other distinguished men of the revo- 
lution. When that administration had encroached up- 
ru the rights of the states and the people — when it had 
passed the alien and sedition laws— when it had filled 
our jails with the victims of its displeasure, it was still 
the object of Mr. Van Vcchtcn'swarm .itfachraent, ar.d 
commanded his vigorous support. He resisted all the 
eflbrtsofthe rcpublica.i party, with Jefferson at its 
head, and in the contest of 1800, we find him giving his 
vole for the electors favourable to John Adams aud a- 
gainst those fa\ourable to Thomas Jvffcr&on- Thus wc 
see that the administration of the elder Adams, odious 
as it was by its many acts against the principles of the 
republican parly, was still Ihe object of his parental 
fondness & solieitiule during the whole period of its ex- 
istence. "He sat by its cradle — he followed its hearse." 
Mr. Van Vcchten's zeal for the federal cause, .ind op- 
position to republicans, was ai'dent and untiring- In 
1S08, we find him again in the legiilature voting for 
ihe federal electors, and against those of the republican 
party. 

From 1S08 to the la'e war — a period of unexampled 
commercial difPiculties — and during all that war, when 
the federalists were flattered witii the hope qf regain- 
ing lost power, he was active and unwareringinhisop- 
position to the republican administration of president 
Madison. The federalists had not in all th^'ir ranks 
a champion in whom they jilacod greater confidence, 
and from whom the}- received greater aid, and the rr- 
pul)licans had no opponent more powerful to contend 
with. As a member f.four legislature, he opposed ever\' 
expression of ccnddeiice by that body in the pitrioiism 
and jjurityof our public agents in the general govern- 
ment, or in the correctness of their policy and the wis- 
dom of their measures. These expressions of ccnfi- 
dence, eman.ating from so respectable a source as the 
legislature of the great and powerful state of New- 
York, were of vital importance to the country^ assailed 
by a foreign foe and rent by domestic faction. 

IVIr. Van Vechten's course in the convxntion for revi- 
sing our constitution, afTords the clearest evidence of 
his political principles, and no doubt can re^t upon the 
caiad of tho$e who examine it, that lii.-< predilections for 



tlic high toned doctrines of the old fcder:il school had 
increased ^Mfh his years. 

While the eii'oits of the rejmblican party have been 
to enlarge the rights and privilefres of the people, those 
of the federalists have ever been for restricting them. 
Mr. Van Vechten, tiue to the uriuciples of his party, 
opposed, while in the convention, the extension of tae 
eledive franchise. 

He voted against extending the right of suffrage to 
tho.sc who were assessed and performed labour on the 
highways. 

He voted against giving that right to those ttHo do 
miiitia duty. Deeply imbued with aristocracy laust 
that mind be, which can reconcile it to the eternal prii;- 
ciples of justice to withhold the full right of trecmen 
from those who bear burdens to support government; 
upon whom is cast the defence of our lives u'ld proper- 
ty when invaded by a foreign power, and tiie enl'orcc- 
meiiT. of the laws when resiflted by insurrection and rc- 
belJion; and who, in the peribrmance of these duties, 
are oitcn called upon to shed their blood and lay down 
their lives. 
Mr. "Van Veclittu gave Lis sanction fo a stii! more 
• objecti'.iiahle proposition — :i proposition to exclude 
all those who do not possess an unincumbered real 
estate wf-rth $250 fom voting for mcrnbers of he 
senate. It is admitted that the practical ojicration 
of the provision wouiJ have deprived, in our large ci- 
ties, more than two-thirds of the citizens — including 
among them some of the most respectable, and even 
the most wealth}- — from all pai-ticipaticnin the choice 
of an entire branch of t!ie legislature. In enforci.-g 
this proposition, so much at war wish equality oi rights 
— the basis of republic?') governments — he asserts'lhat 
" the atoners of p-cperly have rights, which «! relation to 
those who are destitute, arc sepai-aie undexchisivc-" Pro- 
ceeding upon this principle, Lhat the adventiticiis cir- 
cumstance of possessing property gives se]jardie and 
txchisive rights, it is no longer a matter of surprise 
that be should have been led"to enibiace all the aristo- 
cratic measures «.f the old federal partj-, and to defend 
with all the ability for which he is so much eulogised, 
all the assumptions of power which have been claimed 
under the administrations of the f.'oV.-iind younger yld- 
ams. It is this principle of property confcring sepa- 
rate and exclusive rights, v/bicb in "feudal times made 
the distinction between the loi-d and bis vassals — in 
modern times makes tliat between the monarch 
and his subjects, giving absolute power to one, and im- 
posing passive obedience as a duty on the other. It 
has destroyed equal liberty in all ether republics but 
ours, and if the reign ai John Adams had continued, it 
would have destroyed it here. Without enlarging up- 
on its dangerous tendcnc}', we address this inquirj' to 
the thousands whose clearest nghfs have been menaced 
by its assertion; " Will you give your votes to those 
who would have deprived you of tlie very right of vo- 
ting, and against those who secured this right to you'? 
Wril j-ou give your support to an adminisuation which 
by its aristocratic principles has scctu'ed the atUich- 
ment of ^1 those who iu this land of freedom would 
have withheld from you the most valued right of free- 
men 1" 

Mr. Van Vechten steadily and perscveringly resisted 
the introduction of these free principles into the new 



constitution, and when they were placed there by re- >| 
publicans, he recorded his vote against that constitution, i 

Such are the principles of Mr. Van Vechten, the fed- 
eral elector nominated by the jiartisans of John Quin- 
cy Adams in Opposition to Gen. Jackson. While we 
feel a respect for the consistency of his political con- 
duct, we can not but lament his" erroneous principles. 
A^ e have freely questioned, as we have an undoubted 
right to do, while h.- stands before the people for their 
sulhages, the soundness of his political faith; but we 
have done this without intending to impeach the purity 
of his heart, or derogate from the respect due to him 
as a worthy citizei;. 

We now turn to one, whose great moral worth may- - 
fearlessly challenge a c'omjiarison with that of Mr- Van 
Vechten, and in v/hose political principles we find no- 
thing to condemn and much to admire. We allude fo 
JOHN TAYLER, late lieut. governor of this state, 
whoKi wcnoM' present to you as an elector in favom- ol 
Andrew Jacicson- 

John Tayler %vas a whig of the revolution; a ])atriot 
in 1798; and has ever been a firm and consistent repub- 
lican. 

Inl776,Jie was a delegate to the provincial congress- 
In 1777 a conspicuous member of the Committee of 
Safety, a body of fearless patriots, who at the risk of 
their lives exercised the executive powers wrested from 
the colonial government, until the ad(<ption of our first 
state constitution. Ke was a member of the convention 
that framed that instrument. He was the friend and con- > 
fidunt of Washington, — the firm and untiring supporter l| 
of the republican administraliins of Jefferson, Madison " 
and Monroe. No man saw more clearly, or lamented 
more sincerely, the errors of the administration of the 
elder Adams ; and we venture to say no man put forth 
a stronger arm for its prostration. 

Of his more recent efforts in the cause of the repub- 
lican party it is scarcely necessary to speak- They 
arc well known and highly appreciated bj- the grateful 
community in which he lives- The same love of lib- 
erty which led lieut- gov Tayler to embark early and 
zealouslj- in the revolution, and to stake life and for- 
tune upon its success — which made him condemn and 
oppose the mad misnile of the country by John Adams, 
— now induces him, descended as he is into the vale of 
yeai-s, to allow the reuublicaijs of this county the frc& 
use of his .name for a presidential elector in their pre- 
sent stmggle to prostrate the equally aristocratic and 
more corrupt misrule oi John Quincy Adams. 

W^e submit, fellow citizens, to your serious exami- 
nation the political chai-acter of the two presidential 
electors; and ask your choice between the man who 
has adopted and practised upon through life the high- 
toned aristocratic doctrines of the old federal school; 
and tlie whig of the revolntion and republican of '9.S 
— between the supporter of the administration of John 
Adams, with its alien and sedition laws, its multiplied 
diplomatic agencies and standing armies, its ridiculou.s 
pomp and wasteful profusion of the public treasiujcs;' 
and the supporter of the adrainisti'ation fil Jefferson^ 
with its scrupulous regard for the people's rights, its 
republican simplicit}', and rigid economy —Toelwcen 
the stern and consistent federalist, Aeilmiam Va.v 
Vechtex; and the lirm and inflexible republican.. 

JoiIX TAV!,Fr. 



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